It’s Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I’m running the smoke shop register when one of my bosses comes up to me from the customer service desk.
Boss: “[My Name], I just spent several minutes on the phone explaining to an old lady that bought a gift card with cash why it doesn’t show up on her bank account.”
Even the customer I was tending to at the moment laughed out loud.
A lady in her mid-twenties calls in to get her balance.
Me: “Your balance today is -$50.00.”
Silence.
Me: “Is there anything else I can help with?”
Caller: “People keep telling me that, but what does it mean?”
I am baffled by this lady’s lack of basic adult knowledge.
Me: “It means you have spent more money than you have, and you owe the bank fifty dollars.”
Caller: “So… how much do I have left?”
Again, I pause, as I haven’t met this level of lack of understanding before.
Me: “None. You owe fifty dollars because you have spent more than you have.”
Caller: “So, if I go in on Monday and deposit fifty dollars, what will I have then?”
Me: “You will then no longer owe the bank money, after you deposit what you owe.”
This went on for another ten minutes. I explained multiple times over how a negative balance works, and what would happen when she deposited money. I don’t think she ever truly understood what I was saying, and I put a note on her account so her local branch would have a heads up if she went crazy negative in the future.
Related:
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 92
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 91
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 90
I’m really bad with confrontation.
Cashier: “Your total is $26.15.”
Me: “Okay.”
I hand her $41.15.
Cashier: “What are you giving me all this money for?!”
Me: “I— I— I— Change.”
The cashier gave me a dirty look. She called her supervisor, took a long time to count out $15, and shoved it into my hands. The whole time, she held my items behind the counter. I have no idea how I offended her so badly.
I finish a grocery order, and the woman pays in American money. I give her change in Canadian loonies and toonies. She just looks at the money and blinks.
Customer: “I’m American. Can I have my change in bills, please?”
I work at a money exchange facility. A girl approaches me in my office.
Customer: “How much is your service fee?”
Me: “Hello! Well, it depends on how much you are exchanging.”
Customer: “Yes, but how much is it?”
Me: “The maximum fee is 19.7%, but it depends on how much you want to exchange. How many dollars do you have?”
Customer: “No, I want to know in Euros how much it’s going to be.”
Me: “Ma’am, it’s a percentage, and it depends on the amount. It could be smaller, but you need to tell me how much you think to exchange”
Customer: *Patronizingly* “You don’t understand! Since it’s a percentage, how many Euros is it going to be?”
Me: “I’m sorry, no, I don’t understand. It’s a percentage; percentages depend on the total amount.”
Customer: “Yes, tell me how many Euros it will be on the total amount!!”
I just look puzzled.
Customer: “Never mind. I’ll ask somewhere else.”
Me: “Good luck!”
Related:
They’re Not In The Upper Percentile, Part 2
They’re Not In The Upper Percentile
